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Registered Charity Nos 1139257/SC041990 Registered as a limited company in England and Wales 07451571 Dear Friends Our Open Day volunteer Elaine Smith has been fundraising again. As we reported in the last newsletter, Elaine joined 15,000 athletes in the 10-kilometre BUPA London Run, starting and ending in St James’s Park, and raised £435. Now she has organised a Cake Break at her home in Five Mile Drive, North Oxford. She invited friends along for tea, coffee and cake and raised an amazing £625 for our branch. Under the rules, Elaine had to pass the £435 she made from the run to head office, but she has asked for it to be transferred to our branch so that our members benefit directly.
TRANSPORT OFFICER Our transport officer, Liz Smith, has had to resign because of a change in her work arrangements. We’ve rarely seen
Oxford and district branch
Newsletter
September/October 2015
her at our Open Days, but she has done a marvellous job behind the scenes organising taxis for members. Our thanks to her for all she has done for us.
We have been very lucky to have a volunteer come forward to take on the role – new member Paul Sargent. We’re very grateful to him. Please bear with him as he settles in – his telephone numbers are 01869 369397 or 07951 258 702 and his email address is [email protected]
As with Liz, please make sure you give him plenty of notice, so that he has time to organise the transport you need.
IT’S CHRISTMAS! It may still be more than three months away, but the MS Society is already gearing itself up for Christmas.
Copies of the 2015 Christmas catalogue have been dropping through the letterbox in recent weeks, offering a good selection of cards and other festive accessories.
OPEN DAYS The Wheatley birds of prey again proved very popular when they appeared at our July Open Day. Jayne and Clive Jones brought along a wonderful selection of birds, which we were able to admire from close range.
There was Ringo the Little Owl, Charlie the Buzzard, Kes the Kestrel, Chaos the Falcon, Toby the Tawney Owl and Pepper the Barn Owl. We will look forward to seeing other members of the collection next year.
In August, we welcomed the Wantage Male Voice Choir, who entertained us with an hour of popular music, while in September, we were delighted to have the return visit of Malcolm Nelson, telling us more amusing tales of smugglers he caught during his long career as a customs officer.
We are beginning to draw up a programme of talks, entertainment and craft workshops for 2016, so if you have any interest you would like us to cover, or any suggestions for speakers and entertainers, please let our chairman John Chipperfield know.
GARDEN PARTY Our stall at the garden party at the Northcourt Centre in Abingdon, where we hold our monthly Open Days, proved to
be one of the most popular.
We invited visitors to play the Dutch game of Shula, giving them 10 wooden tablets to skim along a board and hopefully land them in one of four channels with scores of one, two, three or four. A steady stream of people tried their luck for 20p. We gave the adult winner a bottle of wine and the two best children shared a box of chocolates.
All groups which use the centre were encouraged to hold a fundraising activity and raise money to improve the centre’s forecourt and to redecorate rooms. Muriel and Dixon Halliday, who live next door, also opened their beautiful garden for people to visit.
A total of £1,460 was raised, enough for the centre management committee to seek quotes for the work needed on the forecourt.
To continue its fundraising, the centre management committee is organising another quiz evening, inviting teams of six from all the groups which use the centre.
This will take place on Friday, 16th October. It will cost £8 per person and each team will be asked to contribute to a bring-and-share supper. If you would like to be a member of an MS team, contact our secretary, Jo Hawtin, on 01865 373907 or email [email protected]
The Wheatley Birds of Prey, with Jayne and Clive Jones, proved a great hit with members when they paid their second visit to us, at our July Open Day. By popular request, they will be back next year!
PARISH SUPPORT We are very grateful to members of St Mary’s Church, Iffley, who, acting on a suggestion by branch member Patricia Michael, have decided to support our branch with donations for three years.
The first cheque for £363.25 covering 2014 has arrived and we have been promised further cheques for 2015 and 2016. Our thanks to all the parishioners for their generosity.
CHAIRMAN ON AIR Anyone listening to Radio 4 on Saturday, 15th August will have heard our chairman John Chipperfield’s dulcet tones. John was asked to take part in Punt PI, in which Simon Punt (Private Investigator) examines unsolved crimes. The subject was the theft of a valuable painting by the French impressionist Paul Cezanne in a daring raid on the Ashmolean Museum nearly 16 years ago.
A thief climbed scaffolding on a nearby building, clambered across the museum roof, cut a hole in the glass ceiling and lowered himself on a rope ladder into the gallery where the painting was on display.
He tucked it under his arm and escaped the same way he went in. Neither the man nor the painting has been seen since.
The theft happened at about 2am on Saturday, 1st January 2000 – the first big heist of the new century! John was news editor of the Oxford Mail at the time, so played a key part in news coverage of the event.
QUIZ NIGHT We were pleased to welcome two officers of the MS Therapy Centre at Milton Park, near Didcot, to our September Open Day.
The new chairman, Andrew Gower, and the treasurer, Dave Webb, were interested in finding out how our branch worked and spent some time speaking to members.
A quiz night in aid of the therapy centre will be held at Didcot Conservative Club on Friday, 23rd October, 7 for 7.30pm start. Teams of six to eight are invited to take part, at a cost of £7 per person. For more information, contact Sue Doran on 01235 832023 or email [email protected]
AWARD WINNER The first Richard and Mary Cave Award for Services to People with MS has been given to Professor Alastair Compston for his work in the development of Lemtrada (alemtuzumab), one of the most effective treatments for MS. Mr Cave set up the MS Society in 1953.
Our Open Day volunteer, Elaine Smith, organised a Cake Break with her friends at her home in Five Mile Drive, North Oxford, and raised an amazing £625 for branch funds. Meanwhile, our secretary, Jo Hawtin, watched by husband Brian, tries her luck on the Dutch shula board, the game we offered at the Northcourt Centre fundraising afternoon.
100 CLUB The September draw of the 100 Club had to be postponed because the organiser, Brenda Franklin, was unable to be present. It has been rescheduled for the October Open Day.
Meanwhile, there are still plenty of numbers still to be allocated, so if you fancy your chance of winning a cash prize and helping branch funds as well, don’t hesitate to step forward. Call Brenda on 01993 842076 or see her at our meetings and she will happily sign you in.
BRIEFLY Our thanks to foot specialist Mrs Shergold, of Woodstock, who continues to support us by encouraging her customers to give a donation for MS in exchange for the treatment they receive from her. Her latest cheque to the branch was for £354.59 – a wonderful gesture.
The annual barbecue at the Oxford Centre for Enablement raised £609.26. The money will be used to provide equipment and other aids which are not available on the NHS. The centre, which many of our members attend, is on the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre site at Headington.
We have applied to make two collections at Tesco stores in the
New Year, and we have also been offered a chance to collect at Sainsbury’s at Heyford Hill. Our fundraisers will be looking for volunteers to hold the tins when we know the dates.
Let us know if you hear of anyone ill or in hospital. Call 0779 237 7178 for all welfare matters. Send correspondence to John Chipperfield at 3 Lambs Close, Kidlington, Oxon OX5 2YD. For the MS nurses, call 01865 234461 or email [email protected] Call 01865 231869 for information about ongoing and new MS trials. To contribute to the newsletter, call John Chipperfield on 01865 374877, write to 3 Lambs Close, Kidlington, Oxon OX5 2YD or send an email to [email protected] If you change your email address or install email in your home, please make sure you let Stevan Heads, our membership secretary, know. The more newsletters we send by email, the more we save in printing, stationery and postage costs. And you see the pictures in colour, not black and white. Call Stevan on 01235 532184 or email [email protected] All views expressed in this newsletter are individual and not necessarily the view or policy of the charity or its supporters.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Friday October 2: Open Day, Northcourt Centre, Abingdon. Speaker: John Winn on his hobby of steamboats. 10am-4pm. Friday October 16: Quiz night at Northcourt Centre, Abingdon. Call secretary Jo Hawtin on 01865 373907 or email [email protected] if you would like to join the MS team. Friday October 23: Quiz night in aid of MS Therapy Centre, Milton Park. Didcot Conservative Club. 7 for 7.30pm. Call Sue Doran on 01235 832023 or email [email protected] Friday November 6: Open Day, Northcourt Centre, Abingdon. Brenda Franklin leads a Christmas craft workshop. 10am-4pm. Friday December 4: Open Day, Northcourt Centre, Abingdon. Christmas music from Ian and Diane Woods. 10am-4pm. Wednesday December 9: Christmas carols with brass band at Templars Square, Cowley (organised by the Friends of the Oxford Centre for Enablement). 11am-3pm. Saturday December 19: Christmas party, Oxford Centre for Enablement, 5-8pm. Booking essential. 2016 No Open Day in January Friday February 5: Open Day, Northcourt Centre, Abingdon. Speaker: Bridget Britton, Royal National Lifeboat Institution. 10am-4pm. Friday March 4: Open Day, Northcourt Centre, Abingdon. Annual meeting. 10am-4pm. Call Alan Cusden on 01865 723420 or Geoff Cowan on 07930 542692 if you wish to help with fundraising or collections. Don’t forget to look at our website at www.mssociety.org.uk/oxford
Oxford and District Branch Officers – 2015-6
President: Prof Derick Wade
Chairman/Newsletter Editor: John Chipperfield 01865 374877 [email protected]
Secretary/Minutes Secretary: Jo Hawtin 01865 373907
Treasurer: Brian Hawtin 01865 373907 [email protected]
MS Support Officer: Paula Mallaghan 01865 378519
Open Day Officer: Vacant
Membership Secretary: Stevan Heads 01235 532184 [email protected]
Transport Officer: Paul Sargent 01869 369397 or 07951 258 702
Fundraising Officers: Alan Cusden 01865 723420 [email protected]
Geoffrey Cowan 07930 542692 [email protected]
Committee member: Dorothy Warner 01235 554448
Information Officer: Vacant
